Geography

From Angela:
Howard Schrager's Riddle Rhymes are back with this new collection of riddles encompassing sixty-three United States cities. Places we all know and love are accompanied by an engaging illustration and the fun of trying to solve the riddle.

As with his previous riddle rhyme books, the phrase in each clue "suggests" the city name, as in the title where Chi(cken), Ca(r) and Go suggest Chicago. Each puzzle is a fun journey enjoyed by adults and children alike. Best read aloud, and in a group! Highly recommended!

From the Publisher:
The sequel to A Knife and A Fork and A Bottle and a Cork (the 50 states), Chicken in the Car and the Car Can't Go, That's How You Spell CHICAGO treats 63 major American cities with Riddle Rhymes. Just because they're fun, people of all ages can vie with each other to solve the riddles in friendly competition that stimulates an interest in language, promotes active listening, cultivates a taste for geography, and provides insights into the human thought process. City Sketches in the back of the book provide information on how each of the cities developed into what it is today.

Norman is a young gnome, only 8 years old, in fact. Of course, a single gnome year is equal to 10 human years, but despite that fact, Norman was a very young gnome, a child still living with his parents. One day Norman decides to follow the stream to see where it flows and sets off (a decision that was to bring his parents much worry). What happens next is why this story is told!

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Eric Fairman wrote Norman Goes Down the River!! for Grade 3 students. It serves as a bridge between the fairy tales of earlier grades and the realism that 3rd graders begin to crave. The story takes Norman (and the children) on an exciting journey along a stream which has its source high in the densly forested mountain, down to the plains and from thence to the ever increasingly populated areas alongside what has now become a fast flowing river. At last, Norman arrives in a large city at the mouth of the river where it joins the vast ocean.

Throughout the story, Norman meets with different birds and animals that have homes in the ever changing environment. Geography and natural history, imagination and adventure all mix and ways both delightful and elucidating. Norman is sure to be loved by children and adults alike

Very highly recommended for Grade 3 students and for the Grade 3 student in anyone!

Long ago, the Birds had no songs. Only Man could sing, and every morning, Man would greet the rising Sun with a song.

This is a Native legend that tells the story of how the birds were given song, and most especially how it came about that the Hermit Thrush was given the loveliest song of all. It is so beautifully retold that you can almost hear the voice of the storyteller as you read the words. The line drawings are heartfelt and exquisite.

As if this were not enough to recommend it, this little booklet is simply perfect for the Waldorf 4th Grade biology block, and in the US, also the section of the geography block that concerns Native culture. In addition to its very beautiful legend, there is a chapter at the end on "The Natural History of the Hermit Thrush" that paints a wonderful picture of the life and ways of this little bird, along with its basic biology and nature. The legend and this addtional information combine to make a meaningful and vibrant introduction to the nature of birds and life itself.

Farther back in the book is a listing of the seasonal ceremonies of the Mohawk people, which could easily form the basis for conveying the Native cultural impulse to 4th graders as part of their geography block and throughout the year.

Sacred Song of the Hermit Thrush is a gem that can resonnate in every child's heart, with or without Waldorf education. The fact it fits perfectly within the Waldorf curriculum simply echoes the beauty of the human heart through the world. I can't tell you how much I hope that many, many children will be able to hear and learn this story, and how much I hope it inspires many, many adults to offer it to the coming generations.

Another favorite book from my own childhood, Minn of the Mississippi is a great story, a wonderful natural history of the Mississippi River, and an outstanding geography/history lesson all rolled into one.

Minn is a snapping turtle who begins life as an egg laid at the source of the Mighty Mississippi. [I still remember my amazement when I learned while reading Minn at around age 9 that the Mississippi River also begins as something so small a child can stand astride it. The only part of the Mississippi I had ever seen was under the bridge we crossed every year to get to my grandmother's house in southern Iowa -- I had assumed the river was always about half a mile wide.]

One thing leads to another, and over the course of many, many years, Minn makes his way down the full length of the Mississippi, at last making his home among barnacle encrusted treasures left on the Gulf bottom by pirates and adventurers of long ago. Minn's travels bring him into contact with most of the wildlife that makes its home in and near the river, many of the people, and evidence many peoples gone long before.

I just love Minn of the Mississippi and the story that is told here. One of the remarkable things that H. C. Hollings does here and elsewhere is to create a story where the animal at the center of the action remains an animal (i.e., no talking, thinking or anthropomorphic behavior), yet evokes in the reader a great sympathy and involvement. And he does this while teaching a huge amount about nature, geography and history! It doesn't get better than this.

The stories of Holling Clancy Hollings rest as some of my childhood favorites - I still remember the thrill of getting to check them out of the library (again and again!) and my rapt absorbtion in the stories of creatures and things that were such great adventurers. As the captivating page turners rolled out their tales, I learned so very much about the aspect of the natural world in which the story took place. Hollings stories are a rarity in that they are great books and while also being great learning tools.

Pagoo is an intricate study of the teeming life of tide pools, told through the adventures and misadventures of Pagoo, a hermit crab.

An Indian boy living along the shores of Lake Superior carves a small canoe with a "Paddle Person" in it. He names it "Paddle-to-the-Sea" and sets it on its journey from Lake Superior all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. As Paddle-to-the-Sea travels, we journey with him through all the Great Lakes, meeting boats and barges and seafarers along the way. Paddle even goes over Niagra Falls and through the locks on the St. Lawrence River. And after surviving all those adventures, it should come as no surpirse to learn that he eventually crosses the whole Atlantic Ocean and arrives in France!

A great book with a riveting story. I don't think the natural and social life of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway has a better chronicler than Holling.

As with Big Tree, Tree in the Trail uses the life of a tree to portray both the passing of history and life cycles of nature. Where Big Tree uses a Redwood to survey the founding moments of Western Civilization, Tree in the Trail is about a Cottonwood and the things that happened within the tree's view over two hundred years along the Santa Fe Trail in the American Southwest. There are animals and people that bring to life the history, both natural and human, of this amazing part of the world. And through all the dramatic changes, the tree continues to stand and grow.

Like Holling's other books, this one is packed with story and teaching; with life itself.

In the days of the great square-rigged sailing ships, a seaman and his ship are saved from a collision with an iceberg by the swooping flight of a seagull off the shores of Greenland. In gratitude and for future good luck, Ezra Brown, the seaman, buys some ivory ashore and carves a beautiful ivory gull. Together they travel the seas on their whaling ship. Later, when the seaman is captain of his own ship, they sail together on the swift Clipper Ships to the South Seas and the Orient.

Seabird continues to ride the waves with Ezra's son, and then with his grandson, traveling on the fastest sailing ships, then on the steam ships that replaced them. At the end of the book, Ezra's great-grandson takes the Seabird along as he flies the skies, soaring through the air as he pilots the new airplanes around and around the world.

Another wonderful book by Hollings.

All Sail Set

Armstrong Sperry

The gripping and authentic yarn of a race 'round the Horn onboard the greatest clipper ever built - The Flying Cloud

This would also be a great accompanying novel for the Waldorf history block covering the industrial revolution, ages 12-13.

If ever there was a story of adventure on the high seas that we would want to share with the young people around us, this is it. The subtitle is as accurate as they come -- the adventure captures our imagination and holds it fast; the descriptions of sailing aboard a clipper ship are so accurate your young reader will be qualified to sign on as a deck hand before the story ends.

Sperry takes us back to the days when Clipper Ships transformed the world with their amazing speed (only 90 days to sail around the whole world!) and the race against time was a race toward a new modern world.

Here is the story of Enoch Thacher, a boy whose father lost his fortune at sea, goes to work for Donald McKay (who really existed and built an entire line of great clippers). McKay takes him on during the lofting, building, and rigging of the The Flying Cloud. Enoch finally ships out on her for her maiden, record-breaking trip around the Horn. Sperry's vigorous drawings are the perfect accompaniment to this realistic, riveting narrative of iron men and wooden ships. Even landlubbers will be pegged to their seats as they read.

Howard Schrager, author of LMNOP and all the Letters from A to Z, brings us another delight for classroom, home, travel, or just about anywhere you find yourself with a little time and a wish for something fun to do with someone else.

A Knife and a Fork... is a collection of riddle rhymes each of which leads to the spelling of the name of a US state. They can become a delightful part of geography lessons, sparking infectious laughter as they stimulate creative thinking and correct spelling.

In these original riddle rhymes, Schrager often goes in several directions at once, leading and misleading all at the same time. For instance, in the title rhyme, the first three clues all point to the shapes of letters (N, K and Y), but the final clue is a hint of the spelling of the word itself (...ork). Altogether, it adds up to New York, but the mental journey to getting there just woke everyone up and created an adventure that will make not only the spelling of the word unforgettable, but will bring a smile everytime you hear it, too.

Howard will be coming out with more riddle rhyme books in the near future. For now, we welcome you and your students and children and grandparents and friends to a new world of word games that will have you all laughing and spelling away. Very highly recommended.